Under the leadership of Chief Dan Couchie, Council unanimously supported the Language Revitalization Plan for our community. The Language Revitalization Plan sets out a road map towards achieving our goals. Revitalizing our language is a priority for Chief and Council. As such, we are committed to taking a leading role to ensure our language survives and thrives.

We are very optimistic about this venture and believe Pic River is up to the challenge. As individuals within our community, we all have gifts to contribute our vision. Together we can achieve ”Insanely Great” things. We look forward to working together and the usual support and commitment of the members.

Language Revitalization Development Team (Committee)

Chief and Council are looking to develop a dynamic team who can lead our in the implementation of our language revitalization plan. If you are interested in helping out in any way, please feel free to leave your name at the Band Office.

Pre-school Programming

Chief and Council are very proud of the results of our Junior/Senior Kindergarten and Head Start partnership. Council has since supported staff recommendations to combine the efforts of these programs to enhance language acquisition. Special thanks to Shirley and Rose for providing the on-site care and facilitation of our children’s development. Thanks to the parents and other staff members for creating and supporting this program. We know this program will continue to grow and develop.

In our efforts to re-design our pre-school programs, Lisa Michano-Courchene has been working on developing a Pre-School Child Development Model. This model outlines the purpose and goals of pre-school child development. It addresses the development needs of children and is based on a combination of our traditional teachings and the academic world. This is another example of our commitment to ensure our programs meet the changing needs of our community. Once the model is completed, supporting lesson plans will be developed. This is another exciting program aimed to increasing the effectiveness of our services. We look forward to your input and suggestions.

Elementary School Language Re-Design

Council has responded to the continued request to incorporate more Community and First Nation based curriculum into our elementary school. This request has been identified throughout the years, as a result of planning sessions, surveys and parent interviews. Council is committed to enhancing the current curriculum to ensure our children receive the best possible education.

One of the initiatives that fit into this direction is the re-designing of the Language Program within the elementary school. We are working on reviewing the curriculum to allow additional time to be allocated to Language Acquisition. Our plan is to increase the daily exposure to the language for all students and teachers. Currently, each class receives on half hour of Ojibwe language instruction. In September, we plan on providing an extra half hour daily to our students. Our students will receive approximately 200 hours of language per school year. We will be delivering 2 language courses per day. One class will be for grades 1 to 4 and the other for grades 5 -8.

Liz Michano is working on reviewing the current curriculum as defined by the Ministry of Education. She is identifying which objectives can be part of the language curriculum. Liz has provided a summary of this project; please check out her section on the web site. In addition, she is developing units and lesson plans to support the changes. The development of units and lesson plans will be an on-going initiative and the community is encouraged to bring forth their ideas and suggestions.

Council appreciates the effort of our staff in taking the initiative to challenge the current models and develop new & innovative ways to educate our children. Special thanks to Lambert and the rest of the staff for being open to change, which is in the best interest of our children. We wish all the staff well in making the necessary adjustments to provide the highest quality of education.

Web-Site Development

We are working on making some changes to the Language Section of the Web-site. We hope to provide you with an interactive, informative and creative web-site.

Upcoming Community Events

*Please check back for more community events.

Council would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to:

Our Children - for the hope and inspiration they bring to our lives by blessing us with the sound of our language.

Our Elders - for their wisdom, knowledge and openness to share their teachings and our stories with us.

Our Youth - for your creativity, innovation and for teaching us about the ways of your world.

Our Parents - for always looking to the future and making decisions in the best interest of our children.

Thank You for helping us to create a vision for our people and our future generations. Your on-going support and feedback is always appreciated and welcomed. Together, as one, we will succeed in making Pic River a great place to live.

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